‘Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Episode 3 Superlatives

Best moment: Maurice Fleming works out early

As the rookie corner says in his own words, he’s “undrafted.” Fleming knows he needs to outwork everyone he is competing with for a roster spot if he is going to make the team, so he asked Jameis Winston what time he wakes up and is matching that. Head coach Dirk Koetter took notice of his work ethic, too, because he could see Fleming early every morning working on his own. A lot of guys—whether they are a first-round pick or undrafted—don’t want to put in the work to be great, but Fleming clearly does.

 

Worst moment: Jameis Winston’s interception

I knew the ugly interception Winston threw on Thursday night against Jacksonville would be featured on Hard Knocks as soon as I saw it happen live. Koetter knows those are the kind of plays that will hold the Bucs back, and he rightfully scolded his quarterback (despite the turnover not counting) because he can’t make mistakes like that, especially in the red zone when they are almost guaranteed to get points. Jameis kept saying, “I got you” on the sidelines, but it’s an all-too-common occurrence for the talented 23-year-old.

 

Funniest moment: Chris Baker and the food truck

For the second straight week, Chris Baker takes the award for funniest moment. After various antics last week, Baker had an intimate dance with a palm tree because it apparently talked to him while the team was being treated by Gerald McCoy to food trucks. The reaction by his teammates made his one-on-one with the palm tree even funnier. And before that, Baker asked if they had to pay for the food on their own, to which McCoy replied that only he did.

 

Underrated moment: Jon Gruden and Rex Ryan talk quarterbacks

Almost everyone watching Hard Knocks is likely a die-hard football fan, so the Monday Night Football production meeting between Jameis Winston and the crew, including Jon Gruden and Rex Ryan, should have been pretty predictable after Ryan talked about how good Jameis is. The former head coach was clearly jealous that he never had a quarterback like Winston, and then after Gruden complained about having to live in Tampa Bay and watch him, Ryan admitted that Gruden had worse quarterback play than he did.

 

MVP: Maurice Fleming

Last night’s episode was basically centered around Fleming, so it’s no surprise that he wins MVP in this week’s superlatives. Before we saw how hard he was working to get better, there was a funny scene with Bucs rookies where the cornerback said he didn’t know how to swim and tried justifying it to his teammates. Then, in the preseason game versus the Jaguars, we saw Fleming’s toughness on display when he went down with a knee injury, but finished the game on one leg and made the game-winning pass breakup in the end zone. When the knee injury was revealed to keep him out for a month, Tampa Bay decided to place him on waivers, so he had to leave camp, but Dirk Koetter commended the rookie’s toughness for finishing the game. Fleming definitely went out with his head high in a rare, easy-to-watch meeting in the head coach’s office, and I have a feeling this isn’t the last we will see of him.